A variety of medical articles are designed particularly for contact with a patient's bodily fluids. The duration of this contact may be relatively short, as is typical with wound dressings, or may be long term, as is typical with prosthetic heart valves implanted into the body of a recipient. Some articles such as catheters can have either short term or relatively long term contact. Other articles typically having relatively short term contact with the patient include, without limitation, burn dressings and contact lenses. Other articles typically having long term contact with a patient include, without limitation, prostheses.
Prostheses, i.e., prosthetic articles, are used to repair or replace damaged or diseased organs, tissues and other structures in humans and animals. Prostheses generally must be biocompatible since they are typically implanted for extended periods of time. Examples of prostheses include, without limitation, artificial hearts, artificial heart valves, ligament repair materials, vessel repair and replacement materials, and surgical patches. Prostheses can be constructed from natural material, synthetic material or a combination of natural and synthetic materials.
The ability to replace or repair diseased heart valves with prosthetic devices has provided surgeons with a method of treating heart valve deficiencies due to disease and congenital defects. A typical procedure involves removal of the natural valve and surgical replacement with a mechanical or bioprosthetic valve. Another technique uses an annuloplasty ring to provide structural support to the natural root, which supports the natural annulus of the valve.
Contact of any exogenous articles with bodily fluids creates a risk of infection. This risk can be very serious and even life threatening. In addition, considerable costs, and longer or additional hospital stays may result due to infection. For example, infections associated with dressings can increase the seriousness of the injury for burn victims. Also, infection associated with an implanted prosthesis can necessitate replacement of the device.
Infections are a particularly common complication resulting from the use in hospitals of percutaneous devices such as catheters. Infections related to catheter use can result from intracutaneous invasion during catheter insertion or from invasion by way of the exit site during use. Adherence of bacteria to the catheter surface complicates treatment of the infection.
Physicians use a variety of prostheses to correct problems associated with the cardiovascular system, especially the heart. Prosthetic Valve Endocarditis (PVE) is an infection that can be associated with a heart valve prosthesis. Bacteria can form colonies at the wound associated with the implant and in the fabric of the sewing cuff of the valve prosthesis. The growth of tissue into the sewing cuff material also is associated with the attachment of bacteria and other pathogens. For this reason, heart valve recipients are cautioned regarding activities that may introduce bacteria into the bloodstream, such as dental work. For tissue replacement valves, PVE more commonly is associated with the leaflet portion of the valve rather than the sewing cuff portion of the valve.
PVE can be caused by gram-negative bacteria, gram-positive bacteria, fungus or rickettsia. PVE caused by gram-positive bacteria is particularly prevalent. Diagnosis is based generally on two positive blood cultures for the same organism along with compatible clinical symptoms. Certain organisms are difficult to culture, however, which can complicate diagnosis.
With respect to replacement heart valves, care must be taken to ensure sterility during production and to prevent contamination during the replacement valve implantation process. For example, to ensure sterility or to reduce perioperative contamination, some surgeons apply antibiotics to the prosthesis prior to implantation. These techniques, however, have relatively short-term effectiveness. In spite of these efforts, PVE occurs in about 2 percent to 4 percent of patients.
Infections occurring within the first 60 days after valve replacement are termed early onset PVE while infections occurring more than 60 days after valve implantation are termed late onset PVE. Mortality rates for early onset PVE range from 56 percent to 88 percent. Mortality rates for late onset PVE range from 30 percent to 53 percent. These high mortality rates emphasize the seriousness of these infections. Similar infections are associated with other prostheses.